Energy expenditure and cost of walking and stair climbing in individuals with chronic stroke.
Janaine C Polese, Giane A Ribeiro-Samora, Raquel C Lana and 2 others
PMID 28473284WHAT IT FOUND
Stroke walkers used less oxygen per minute than healthy controls.
Limited walkers used more oxygen per metre walking. On stairs, both stroke groups used more oxygen per metre than controls. During walking, those at or above 0.8 m/s had costs similar to controls.
Key findings
01During the six-minute walk, both stroke subgroups had lower oxygen consumption per minute than controls, but the two stroke subgroups did not differ significantly.
02During the six-minute walk, limited-community walkers had a higher oxygen cost per metre than community walkers and controls, while community walkers did not differ significantly from controls.
03During stair climbing, limited-community walkers had a higher oxygen cost per metre than community walkers, and community walkers had a higher oxygen cost per metre than controls.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
This was a one-time comparison, not a training study, so it cannot show that changing walking speed changes energy cost. Only 18 people with stroke were tested, and they were split into groups of 8 and 10, so the subgroup results are imprecise. All stroke participants had to walk 14 m without aids, and their mean Barthel scores were 15 and 18 out of 20, so the results may not apply to more dependent patients. The stair results came from a five-minute test on one 11-step flight with handrail use, so they may not match all real-world stairs.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these findings as proof that increasing walking speed will improve energy efficiency. The study compared people once and did not test a training programme, so it cannot show cause and effect.